Abstract
Integrated enterprise-wide information systems (EwIS) are a class of customizable packaged business software applications that have replaced arrays of disparate legacy systems in organizations around the world. EwIS have been the catalyst for the reengineering and automation of core business processes that has led to organization-wide transformation across most industries in corporate America. Chief among this category of packaged business software is enterprise resource planning (ERP), the back-office suite that was embraced by many industries in the 1990s as a cure for legacy system ailments and impending year-2000 (Y2K) disasters. ERP is considered a product of the evolution of an earlier manufacturing planning system referred to as manufacturing resource planning (MRPII). Whereas MRPII was focused on the factory planning environment, ERP incorporates enterprise-wide functionality and therefore is used in virtually all industries. ERP has enabled organizations to streamline, automate, and commoditize their business processes, leveraging best-of-industry practices, quite significantly over the last 15 years. Two other packages that are attributing to this phenomenon are customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM). In this chapter we review EwIS in a historical context as it has developed over the years and discuss the most important characteristics of EwIS today as well as how we expect this field to evolve.
Published Version
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